A white-haired man walked through a forest, two long-swords side-by-side on his back as he appeared to be looking at the ground, searching for something. He wore a dull, worn, brown, long-sleeve trench coat that ended at his knees. The trench coat was held together by a single buckle in the middle of the torso with a folded over collar. On the shoulders of the jacket it had metal barbs though someone would seriously be hurt if he were to run into them with his shoulder.
On his hands he wore leather vambraces with descending layers of metal armor on them as well as black gloves that had pieces of steel on the tops of them and steel knots on the knuckles. On his chest he wore a single plate of steel armor that covered his upper torso. And underneath that he wore a light chainmail shirt with a plain white, thin shirt underneath. On his legs he wore steel plates on the tops of his thighs as well as tops of his calves but not the back of them along with dark-colored, padded pants beneath that. On his feet he wore a pair of steel-toed leather boots.
The man held an impressive stature, standing at five foot ten. He did not have a bulky build but one couldn't really distinguish with the armor. His eyes were red with slits for pupils and he sported grey-white, somewhat spiky hair tied in a short ponytail with a few, long strands falling in front of his face. The man also had a black bandana that covered his nose, cheeks, and mouth.
"Tracks headed east, two different blood trails, meaning the victim put up a fight," the man droned out, his deep voice carrying through the forest.
"Various long claw marks on the trees, and it seems that the beast didn't eat the victim as soon as it was capture, carried them back to its lair," the man said in monotone as he sniffed the air for anything suspicious.
The only scents he smelled were blood and various animals in the area, but not enough blood prevalent for him to follow the scent. It was the middle of the night, around three a.m. as he walked through the dark forest.
Several beasts ran through his head, Katakans and Werewolves being the most dangerous.
No, most werewolves in their savage state wouldn't carry the victims to their lairs, Katakan, or a lesser vampire, most-likely.
The man focused his senses as he came to a stream, kneeling down as he lowered the bandana to reveal an angular jawline thought a scar was sported on his mouth, reaching from below his lower lip to beside his left nostril.
He held a paler complexion that most, though it was not chalk white. The man had a sharp jaw line, thin lips, a straight, roman nose, grey eyebrows, and a sharp gaze. The man used very short, strict, and concise movements that used no more energy than they required even when preforming a mundane task such as drinking water.
The man used his hands to scoop water before he drank from it. The water was fresh and here in the mountains of Lightning Country, it was about as fresh as you could get.
Then again, with his improved metabolism, he could eat just about, or drink just about anything. He held an incredible immunity to diseases, one could akin them to jinchuuriki immune systems, and while most humans' appendixes had grown from being useful, his was jumpstarted with the mutations.
Naruto's ears twitched as he heard a rustling in the woods behind him. He lowered his hands and slowly used his left hand to reach for his silver sword.
Within the moment of a lightning strike, Naruto's sword was drawn just as a large creature leapt from the underbrush, its head resembling that of a giant bat. It had purple skin and white fur on the undersides of its thighs and forearms.
This was a Katakan, a lesser vampire with the ability to refract light around itself making it basically invisible.
The beast jumped to Naruto, its left claw intent on ripping the Witcher's head from his body.
Naruto twisted his form, making the Katakan miss his scalp by mere inches. The beast found its way into the water, thrashing and churning as it found its way to its haunches.
Naruto twirled his silver sword in his hand as the Wolf medallion he crafted vibrated steadily around his neck. His sword's blade was silver in color and relatively thin compared to most, but not as thin as a katana. It had a black, cylindrical hilt with a diamond-shaped pommel and a 'Y'-shaped hilt guard.
He had named it the Hellsing, but overall, the name was unimportant.
Naruto used his free right hand to raise the bandana to cover his mouth and nose. It served some purposes, simply one of looks as well as making it so no poisonous gasses could affect him, no matter the foe he fought.
He and the Katakan circled one another, the lesser vampire exiting the water of the stream just as he entered it. Naruto then broke the cycle of rotation as he continued out further into the shallow stream making the Katakan follow him.
It was then that beast went invisible.
It was also then that Naruto smirked.
The water churned wherever the beast went, and Naruto's delicately tuned eyesight followed its every move.
Without any way to recognize it attacking, the still-invisible beast leapt at the sixteen-year-old, both its claws held out in front of it, ready to pierce the Witcher's armor.
Naruto rolled out of the way before using his enhanced reflexes to kick the beast out of the way. The lesser vampire was sent flying out of water, losing its invisibility in the process. The Witcher ran towards the beast and swipe downward with his sword, succeeding in cutting off the hand of the Katakan.
The beast shrieked in terror as it scampered away from the silver sword, hissing a writhing in pain of having its hand cut off as well as being touched by silver. Naruto ran after the lesser vampire with speeds unseen as he was swiftly beside the beast in moments and elbowed the Katakan over in the ground and into a tree with his enhanced strength.
The lesser vampire didn't get up after that, simply pushing itself into a sitting position similar to that a human would do. It exhaled several times, unevenly as it lost massive amounts of blood from the wound.
Naruto looked at the beast and felt no pity, it was just that, a beast, and it deserved no compassion.
With several twirls of the sword, Naruto walked towards the Katakan, and moments later he was sealing its head into a scroll.
"Looks like this thing won't be giving the Raikage any more trouble," Naruto said to himself as he gathered several alchemical materials from the fallen beast. That was before Naruto heard a low groan.
The Witcher turned his head to see a man with a large gash along his chest and a just as large bite mark on his abdomen leaning against a nearby tree next to a cave. He looked to be in his twenties and was also bleeding from the mouth. With dreary eyes, the man looked at Naruto from his sitting position. "H-Help…me…" the man mumbled, coughing up a bit more red liquid in the process.
Naruto gazed blankly at the man. "Katakan saliva is extremely toxic because of all the different types of bacteria and other parasites. If you don't die from bleeding out, you'll experience many more different issues that will make you wish you were dead," the white-haired man elaborated making the sitting man look up at him before looking down.
"Make…it q-quick…" he said, closing his eyes afterward.
Naruto nodded and drew his sword.
He then sighed. It was going to be a long walk back to Kumo.
….
Three years had passed since his official turning into a Witcher. In those three years, his fame, wealth, and skill had increased exponentially. His status as Orochimaru's student merely faded into the background, his reputation as one of the best monster hunters in the world taking prevalence over that.
After the Trial of Grasses, Naruto opted to see how far he could take his body, without maiming it of course, studying the other augmentations of the book, one of which changed his hair white in exchange for a metabolism from hell, he didn't know how that worked, but it did. The trial of the grasses upped all of his abilities, while the other augmentations fine-tuned them, so to say.
The Trial enhanced his reflexes to superhuman heights, gave him increased muscle density, allowing him to lift several hundred pounds over his body weight. It gave him enhanced senses such as sight, hearing, and smell. His nose was greater than that of an Inuzuka.
Naruto could tell that these mutations were made for those with magic and not chakra. While he had gained a Magick core so that he could perform signs from the Trial, his chakra was not augmented in any way, in fact, he had to practice chakra control once more since the Magick core put it off balance so to say.
One of the most difficult things to accomplish was making it to where he didn't snap branches from a twitch, or overshoot while running, or punch someone from coming up behind him because of instinct.
Truly it was like having to teach himself not to be mentally inept when his body would seemingly do things of its own accord.
Briefly sighing to himself as he thought of the previous three years, Naruto passed through the west gates of Kumogakure (Village Hidden in the Clouds).
It was different than that of Konoha, as most of its buildings being built into its many tall spires they called mountains. Naruto could immediately tell that this village was more militarized than Konoha due to its three checkpoints instead of one at the gates. One checkpoint was located a mile from the gate and sported a sensor shinobi that detected any chakra anomalies. To progress, it required a card and stamp.
The next was a half mile from the gate that again, checked for any anomalies, and patted you down for anything not seen, and for each weapon hidden, it was documented that you had those weapons and any assaults in the village that were linked with them, they would come to you first. Again, one required a stamp from that checkpoint, and if you lacked a stamp from the previous checkpoint, you were immediately arrested.
The last checkpoint was at the gate, and again, gave you another stamp, patted you down, and checked for chakra. If you were a visitor, you had to keep the stamped card with you at all times, and if you were stopped, and did not have the card on you, you were immediately arrested.
The laws of Kumo were no joke, but to a frequent visitor and personal friend to the Raikage such as Naruto, he had grown accustomed to them.
As Naruto walked, his bandana still covering his mouth and chin, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small badge which sported a lightning bolt and symbol for 'Lightning Shadow' on it, signaling that he didn't need papers. The guards at the gate immediately recognized the badge and bowed lightly at the man, the Witcher showing no response in turn.
It was five in the afternoon and citizens were out and about. Shops were closing, families were going out to dinner, and the clubs of the village were opening, the early birds of the night going in to start their activities.
Naruto, his bandana in place, walked with a sedated pace through the crowds of citizens to his destination, the Raikage Tower, its placement being towards the tallest mountain of Kumogakure.
The Witcher looked upward, his red gaze travelling to the mountain and stopped before he pulled down his facemask and inhaled deeply before he promptly pulled his bandana back up, shivering slightly in disgust.
He preferred nature over anything because his senses weren't overwhelmed like they were in villages.
He sighed before he started to walk again. He really needed to grow used to villages with his senses or he would never be able to operate correctly within them.
…
Rounding a corner, the white-haired Witcher let his gaze settle on a silver-haired, tan-skinned woman behind a desk, writing diligently on a piece of paper before setting on a stack to her left, before grabbing another paper from a stack on the right and repeating the same process over and over again.
She was the secretary of the Raikage, age 23, Mabui, and no surname.
Naruto sighed slightly. He was very observant and usually picked up numerous amounts of useless information when either walking around or simply looking into files he…stumbled upon.
With a silent step, Naruto walked over to the silver-haired, diligently working woman and put his hands behind his back.
Mabui wrote on papers all day and often sung soft tunes to herself to pass large amounts of time. And more often than naught, she would zone out so completely, she would forget that she was actually writing on papers and forget her surroundings.
"Mabui-san," Naruto spoke in his deep-as-ever voice. It was very plain, and from then onward, he would assume that Mabui was a very scared person.
The Raikage's secretary nearly fell out of her chair as he made his presence known. It was also then that Naruto needed to announce whenever he was coming near her.
After regaining her wits, Mabui straightened herself up and looked at Naruto with an even gaze, or at least tried to. "N-Now, Naruto-sama, please f-follow me. Raikage-sama is always available to you," she said to him, grabbing a clipboard from her desk and gesturing him to follow her to a nearby door.
Naruto followed behind the dark skinned woman at a reserved pace, simply allowing himself to fall a few paces behind her. After a few moments of walking the two arrived at a large wooden door with the symbol for lightning shadow emblazoned between them.
Mabui stepped off to the side and gestured for Naruto to enter, the Witcher uttering a small thanks in return. The secretary bowed slightly as Naruto pushed open the doors carefully to see the Raikage filling out paperwork at his desk while Darui, one of his most trusted and capable jonins, looking out of the window while another of A's jonins, Cee, was organizing the paperwork his Kage was finishing.
"Enjoying the view, Darui?" Naruto asked amusedly as the dark-skinned men and Cee looked to see a familiar and favored employee of Kumo.
A grinned as he saw Naruto before he practically shoved the paperwork off of the desk to get a better look at the bandana-wearing, white-haired man. "Naruto, good to see you!" he said jovially while Cee was crying tears behind the desk of the Kage.
"A-sama, I just finished organizing the fund requests in alphabetical order!" he said dramatically while trying to scrape up the papers in a frantic race to save his work.
"Bah, who needs that nonsense when my favorite beast hunter is here!" A said with a large smile while gesturing for Naruto take a seat in front of the desk.
"Still wearing the bandana, Naruto?" Darui asked the white-haired man while Naruto sat in front of the Kage's desk after he had adjusted his swords to be on either side of him to not inhibit his sitting down.
"I still haven't grown used to the villages' scent. One of the downsides of having a nose like mine," Naruto said blandly though he easily knew where Darui was trying to steer the conversation to.
A rolled his eyes at that comment. "Are you trying to say that my village stinks?" he said to the man with a deadpan evident in his voice.
Naruto rolled his eyes in response while Darui simply smirked. "No, I'm not, but how would you like it when you smelled the scent of sex three houses away and the scent of someone's three day old trash sitting in the bin along with the breath of every drunken man stumbling out of the bar twenty seven feet away," Naruto responded in a deadpan while A, Cee, and Darui each sweatdropped at the specific aspect of Naruto's answer.
A sudden idea popped inside of Cee's head. "Why were there drunk men at five in the afternoon?" he asked Naruto.
"It's five o' clock somewhere," he responded while popping his neck.
"But it's five o'clock here," Darui said somewhat slowly.
"And that proves my point," Naruto said as he crossed his arms.
Each of the other men could feel that Naruto was smirking.
"Anyways," A began breaking the other three from the pointless banter, "you usually never visit me for pleasure, Naruto. What do you want?" he asked the Witcher with a raised eyebrow while he propped his left arm up to where his left fist was resting beneath his chin.
Both Darui and Cee made their way to either side of their Raikage in a very business-like fashion as Naruto had come to Kumo for mainly business.
Naruto nodded and pulled a scroll from the inside of his coat before he threw it top the Kage.
"That is the Katakan from the bounty board in District 4. It was issued by yourself so I saw it fit to deliver it personally," Naruto spoke in a monotone while A unfurled the scroll to see a storage seal. Sending a brief burst of chakra to the seal, a small burst of smoke enveloped the desk.
Moments later it was revealed to be the head of the Katakan in all of its bloody glory. Cee was the most perturbed by this but A quickly resealed the head before nodding to Naruto and rolling up the scroll.
"This Katakan was giving me problems near the outpost along the border. Thanks, Naruto," A said as he pulled a pouch full of ryo from under his desk and gestured for Naruto to take it.
Naruto stood up before taking the pouch. He briefly sifted through its contents before he glanced back to A and then down to the pouch before nodding. "50,000 Ryo as promised," he said as he put the pouch in his jacket moments later.
Naruto bowed a short bow towards the Raikage before he turned on heel and began to walk out.
"You're not staying longer, Naruto?" the Kage asked with a raised brow.
"I'll be in town for a few days getting supplies and repairing my items if they need it. I might do a little shopping. But currently I'm heading home as the travel here was tiresome," Naruto elaborated as A nodded to himself. "I'm sure if you need me, you'll find me," Naruto told A before he opened the door to the office before exiting.
Moments passed before Cee sighed to himself and threw his arms behind his head in a disappointed fashion. "Anyone else notice how he looked at the ryo and then back to us?" he asked while Darui nodded and A sighed.
"That guy feels like everyone's out to get him sometimes," Darui spoke as he crossed his arms and turned to A and Cee.
A chuckled making both of his subordinates look at him. "His sensei betrayed him and he's gotten the ire of a few major companies here in the elemental nations. Not to mention that Kiri has been sending out several assassins to him every once in a while," A elaborated while Cee sighed again at the mention of Kiri.
"So what he killed a few dozen of their foglets? It's not like they'll miss them," Cee said tiredly.
"It's not that, it's the fact that Yagura's outpost was attacked by rebels a day later. If the foglets were there in the marsh before the outpost the loyalists would have won but the rebels defeated them solidly. No loyalist survivors either," Darui responded with a bored tone.
The two began to bicker back and forth before A's sigh broke them from their banter. Seconds later he smiled slightly.
"At least Yugito is there for him," A said more to himself while Cee and Darui nodded as well.
….
Naruto walked down a street of Kumo in one of its residential districts. The sun was beginning to set and he had picked up ingredients to cook for himself when he got to his small home given to him by the Raikage after helping defend the village from a Fiend.
Some of the passing citizens looked at him with uneasy gazes as they hadn't seen him before or were wary of outsiders. Naruto didn't care, however. He was just a man going to his home.
Naruto walked at a restrained pace to his two-story apartment. The walls were white in color while the tiles were a dull bronze. Naruto sat a bag down before he fished out a set of keys from one of his many pockets. Moments later he unlocked the door and stepped in. With Naruto being observant he noticed a pair of blue shinobi sandals at the entrance of his home.
He had a guest it seemed. And based on the smell of the guest he knew who it was.
Naruto picked up the bag before he closed the door behind him. He sat the bags down once more before he sat down as well and began to take off his boots. He unbuckled them before he slid them off and sat them down beside the pair of shinobi sandals. That was before he heard the soft sound of bare feet pattering against the floor and then to his position.
"Hello there, Naruto-kun," he heard a familiar voice say to him before a pair of arms found themselves around his neck.
Naruto turned slightly to see a dirty-blonde haired woman smiling a very feline-like smile at him. She wore red lipstick at the moment that complimented her onyx-colored eyes. The only attire she had on was a simple light blue robe that reached to her knees.
"What are you doing here, Yugito?" he asked the woman as he stood up to remove his coat only for her to smile deviously as she slowly took it off for him. The coat was damn heavy too.
"I had heard from a little birdie that you came to the village a few days ago and had taken a bounty. I figured you were going to stay for a while so I decided I would come over and clean, turn the power back on as well as the gas," she told him as she put the coat on a nearby coat rack before turning back around to see him now garbed in a white shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows as well as a chainmail shirt that flung around freely. He also had on his gloves, pants, and that damned bandana. "These past two months have been agonizing without seeing you," she told him as she followed him through the living room where the moderately sized television was on and then to the kitchen.
Naruto sighed as he put the bag of ingredients on the counter before looking at her. "I've told you, Yugito," he began with an even gaze as she simply put a hand on her hip and smiled at him. "I want you to find another man. Being with me is not good for you. Waiting for me without opening yourself to other options is no life at all," he said as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms.
Her only response was for her to move towards him and lower the bandana-she had scented the house with a wonderful fragrance, he noticed-before she kissed him on the lips. She flung her arms around his head as he slowly returned the gesture, their bodies meshing to where the lines between them were indistinguishable.
Their lips moved in sync with one another, the kiss being chaste at first before Naruto prodded the entrance to her mouth with his tongue. She gladly opened it as their tongues intertwined and moved together. The kiss was almost needy on Yugito's part as Naruto's arms moved to where they were circled around her, just above her buttocks.
Moments later Yugito pulled away making Naruto open his red eyes to see her smirking at him before she began to lightly nibble on his neck making him groan lowly. Seconds of this passed before Yugito spoke. "I tried, Naruto," she told while burying herself in the crook of his neck. His eyes widen briefly in response.
"I tried to find someone else like you said to, I did. I even tried multiple guys, but I couldn't even try to kiss them let alone like them enough to go on another date," she told him while his eyes softened. "They just weren't you. When you trained here for those few months I just couldn't get you out of my head after you left. Even after you told me to find someone else, I couldn't do it," she told him.
Seconds passed before he spoke. "You know I can't return your feelings," he told her lowly which made her look up at him with a small, sad smile. Even though she was in her early twenties she couldn't get the Witcher out of her mind. It was like she was a teen all over again.
"I know, Naruto-kun," she said while he hmm'ed in response. "You will someday, though," she told him playfully while Naruto just shook his head lightly, a small smirk playing itself on to his lips.
"I'll make dinner," he told her in his usual monotone as she smiled and turned around, walking back to the living room with a slight extra movement in her hips so that he would stare.
And stare he did.
Naruto shook his head as she left the room before he did as well to retreat to his self-imposed man cave at the end of the hallway to his right which was below the stairs to his second floor. Ten minutes passed before Naruto came out of his storage room only garbed in a pair of loose-fitting black and white checkered pajamas that hung around his waist showing off the 'V' he had. His hair was still up in the spiky pony-tail and he was barefoot but this attire clearly showed off his physique.
The man held a wondrous muscle tone and looked to be chiseled from stone. He had a swimmer's body that was clearly sculpted from years of physical activity. Any woman that had seen his form couldn't forget it. A numerous amount of scars also tattered his torso and arms. The most prominent being a set of four claw marks that ripped across his left pectoral to his left shoulder. The other was a long scar that reached from his right hip, across his six-pack abdominal muscles, to just below his left pectoral.
Naruto hadn't just bought enough ingredients but he had bought much more food than even a family of five would be staying for three days, which was his previous estimate on how long he would be staying in Kumo.
With his metabolism, Naruto consumed three times as much as the daily calorie intake. He did this out of necessity more than pleasure, though he made sure all of the meals he prepared were adequate in taste. Though eating a whole deer in the wild threw some adventure in his diet whenever he was out in the wild.
It was fairly troublesome at times where he felt hungry after eating a large meal. It was also time consuming but he didn't want to be out of energy in the battlefield. That was one of the only reasons his physique was always so fit as it didn't store much fat, well, that and his rigorous trainings that it.
Naruto knew that he was no match for any S-Ranked Nin out there let alone his traitorous Sannin sensei. Naruto could hold his own against A-Ranked Nin but S-Ranked was out his reach. Each morning if he was in a settlement he would run without the assist of chakra, 4 miles before doing a warmup exorcise of several hundred pushups and body-weight squats before practicing in chakra control for an hour. Then he would practice sword swings with both his silver sword and his steel sword.
Next he used chakra weights to keep him down while he did more aerobic exercises. This kept his body in tip top shape. After this he would eat a majority of his daily calorie intake for breakfast which was a 3,000 calorie intake. The other three thousand calories settled around lunch and dinner.
Naruto knew his shinobi training was lacking as he rarely used chakra against the beasts he hunted. While the monsters were immune to chakra, they weren't immune to chakra-enhanced melee attacks or the aftereffects on chakra. One of their greatest follies was the Mokuton because again, while they were immune to chakra, they were not immune to the third-party after-effects such as a chakra-created floods, or earth techniques.
The white-haired man grit his teeth as he was born with neither the water or earth affinities. He was born with some of the least effective affinities against monsters. Lightning and Fire were his affinities and one of the few things he was not content with in his life. While these two natures were extremely effective against human personnel, they had next to no effects on monsters because the entire attack was based on chakra, as in chakra-created lightning, or chakra-created fires. Due to his Uzumaki blood he was granted great chakra reserves not unlike those of Jinchuriki and could spam a large amount of chakra-extensive techniques.
It was one of the attributes that made the Sandaime actually pull aside a citizen of the leaf aside to ask them to join the Shinobi corps as a chuunin.
Unlike those of Jiraiya of the Sannin and Anko to Orochimaru, Naruto had no ties to the shinobi populace. He could leave freely and migrate to whatever corner of the world he chose.
Naruto actually laughed a bit as he thought of the ANBU sent to fetch him to come to the Hokage.
….
Three Years Ago: Naruto's apartment in the Leaf, Night Time…
"Excuse me, you want me to what?" Naruto asked incredulously to the pair of ANBU, or bearing a Cat mask, a purple-haired female, and a black-haired male wearing a weasel mask. They were both garbed in traditional ANBU attire and held an air of subtly to them, more-so the female as she carried a katana on her back. Naruto himself was only in a pair of loose fitting sweatpants showing his developing physique which reminded Itachi of a person going for speed and strength rather than pure strength. And if the ANBU were perturbed about his eyes the two did not show it.
The weasel-masked ANBU coughed slightly causing Naruto's left hand to twitch making the boy scowl. "We would like you to accompany us to Hokage-sama's office," he said to the blonde-haired, red-eyed boy.
It was one week after Naruto's official turning into a Witcher and he was still acclimating to his newly gained functions. Every twitch someone else would make, would make himself twitch in anticipation. Every breath which he did not anticipate would make him scowl, and the stench, Kami don't get him started on the smell of his apartment, which he previously thought was fine, stank like a carcass and streets outside were worse. His eyes picked up some of the most minute details such as very, very light indentions in the earth that lead him to someone, or a few misplaced hairs or day old trails comprised of blood, fur, or simple smells.
He would make the best hunter/tracker nin ever produced. Rivaling the eyesight of a Hyuuga, smell of an Inuzuka, or track finding of an Aburame.
But his viewpoints on Shinobi hadn't changed from those of his younger years. They were killers, ransacks, and beasts. At least the profession he followed had some honor, other than doing some jobs solely for monetary gain of course.
"I am not a Shinobi of his so what could he want with me?" Naruto asked while crossing his arms. He ignored the twitch in the cat-masked ANBU's lower jaw as well as the twitch in his own bicep.
Weasel spoke again. He held some rank over Neko it Naruto assumed. He also seemed more professional than her as well. "Hokage-sama would like to speak with you in person about the subject," he said while Naruto groaned. Even if one were a civilian in any village, they abided by a Kage's rulings be they a shinobi or civilian.
Naruto's eyes narrowed at the two elite ninja before he huffed and grabbed a piece of cloth from a nearby stand and tied his hair in a short ponytail. "Give me a few moments," Naruto said as he used his foot to close the door behind him as he walked away. The two ANBU sighed as Neko adopted a more relaxed posture while putting her hand on her hip.
"He sure is reserved, Taicho (Captain)," Neko said as she looked at the Weasel-masked man who still held the same posture, both his hands behind his back and staring straight forward.
Moments passed before Weasel spoke. "This does not occur often when related to ninja matters and I'm sure Uzumaki-san knows this. He was trained by a Sannin, and no matter how strange his combat style is, he is still as deadly as any shinobi," the black-haired man spoke of the mutated blonde in the apartment before them.
Neko nodded. "The Hokage does not pull random civilians off the street to become shinobi. He must have saw something in the boy," she said which made Weasel nod curtly.
"Or perhaps he is trying to remind himself of his former pupil," Naruto spoke as he opened the door, already having heard their conversation from other side of the apartment.
Neko could feel Weasel's blistering side glare which made her sweat. She was sure that the boy before wasn't anywhere near them when she spoke of what the Hokage wanted of the boy.
Naruto was now garbed in a pair of black boots and black trousers which had leather padding on the shins and thighs with a light amount of chain mail covering both of them. On his chest he wore a plain white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. On his hands he wore black leather gloves with metal plating on the top of the hand and down the fingers. And on his back he sported the Kusanagi crisscrossed with his newly forged silver sword, Hellsing. While they were both long, Naruto's current stature of five foot two could handle them.
"Let's get this over with," Naruto spoke to the two while the both nodded before the began to run down the street at a moderate pace which made Naruto sigh before he took off after them, virtually appearing before them on a roof top though he stumbled slightly at his chakra-enhanced speed with his newly forming muscle density. After he gained his footing, he spoke.
"As you said, I was trained by a Sannin. I may not be a shinobi but I know your arts," Naruto said as he openly glared at the two ANBU beneath him, his red eyes boring into their own. It being night time, it gave the teen an ominous look.
Neko gulped while Weasel narrowed his own now red eyes. It didn't matter if he didn't possess all of a Shinobi's attributes. He made up for it with those augmentations. It seemed that he possessed greater hearing, and Itachi assumed that he great eyesight as well. From the definition of Naruto's physique Itachi saw earlier, he also assumed that Naruto was stronger than any non-chakra enhanced woman or man.
Itachi would also assume that the teen also had great reflexes as what he had calculated earlier, the stumble was corrected quickly, too quickly for any normal shinobi. These were the observed reasons as to why Hiruzen wanted this particular citizen in his Shinobi Corps. Even though Naruto had thinned the monsters inside Konoha and around it by a large margin, Konoha's Monster Hunting Corps could take up the slack. The Hokage did not want any rouge agents with the skill of a shinobi inside Konoha, it being the former Hokage's son or not.
Itachi snapped out his train of thought as Naruto began to tap his foot on the ceiling he was standing on. Seconds later Itachi disappeared with Naruto not very far behind at all and Yugao taking up the rear.
…
Naruto, Itachi, and Yugao appeared in the Hokage's office, the latter two appearing slightly burdened if their panting had anything to do with it while the former was completely unaffected by the large amount of physical activity.
Naruto had large amounts of stamina as well, Itachi guessed. Though a key advantage Itachi currently held over the younger of the two was sheer amount of experience the young ANBU captain possessed. While Naruto was an expert in monster hunter, Itachi was as well versed in conflicts with Shinobi.
Naruto gazed around the Hokage's office, this only being his third time here as the other two were for monster contracts. It was plain with wooden floors a large desk towards the window that overlooked the ever-living village of Konoha, and a number of bookshelves lined the walls along with a few pictures.
The current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked over the village while he smoked from his pipe. He was 65 going on 66 if Naruto remembered correctly. The man was garbed in his Fire Shadow attire with red and white robes along with the signature hat.
"Naruto Uzumaki," the kage spoke white Itachi and Yugao saluted before they disappeared into the shadows though Naruto's eyes saw them on the ceiling along with two other ANBU in the corners of the room.
Naruto put his arms behind his back and looked evenly at the man. "What did you call me for, Hokage-sama?" he said professionally and neutrally.
Hiruzen took a few moments to respond as he puffed on his pipe filled with tobacco or something else, Naruto couldn't determine the smell.
"How are you doing today, my boy?" Hiruzen asked in a grandfatherly voice as he deflected the question. The boy was too on guard for his liking.
Naruto's left index finger twitched slightly. "How I am doing is irrelevant, Hokage-sama," Naruto responded with a monotone which made the Hokage narrow his eyes behind the desk. Naruto just responded the way an ANBU would have responded. Could it be the emotional conditioning Orochimaru had requested years ago?
"What do you think you are here for, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked after a moment. He had hoped to get Naruto's guard down before he asked the boy to join his Shinobi corps.
"I am here for whatever you desire, Hokage-sama. Or do you have a contract you wish me to accept?" Naruto asked in monotone while his neck muscle jumped when the Hokage spoke. At first Naruto wrote this off as a random spasm, one of the many he had been having with his new nerves, but he soon realized that this Kage made him irritable. Very irritable.
"Alright, if it's for whatever I want, Naruto," the Sandaime snapped back as he stuffed his pipe away in his desk before he turned to the Witcher.
Naruto merely gazed at the clearly irritated kage professionally. However Naruto's nerves practically jumped when they felt the subtle amount of killer intent in the room before it left.
Hiruzen sighed as he massaged his temples. Moments later he looked at the youth before him and gazed evenly at his red-colored eyes. "I have received reports of your change in eye color. The reports didn't do it justice. I can see how you twitch every now and then, the muscle tone, you glancing around every few moments. I experienced the very same things with Orochimaru himself as he tested the limits of his body but it was never this bad. Just what did you do to yourself, Naruto?" the Kage asked with a fair amount of genuine worry. The other amount of emotions ranged to curiosity.
"Konoha Civil Rights section 43:A, and I quote, "Each citizen of the leaf village is hereby given the right to privacy in their own properties and home and the actions committed in them. Unless an express state of emergency stated by the entire council and Konohagakure's current Hokage, or a publically made search and seizure warrant is made, this privacy is upheld to the highest importance." End Quote," Naruto recited to the Kage in monotone while Hiruzen merely rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair.
"I figured you would pull that card," Hiruzen muttered while Naruto's ear twitched as the almost whisper registered.
"That is my trump card, Hokage-sama," Naruto responded in kind.
Hiruzen also smirked. "I figured you had gained enhanced hearing as well," he said to the youth while Naruto inwardly grimaced as he gave himself away.
Moments passed as the two stared at one another. Naruto spoke next, trying to pull the Kage from his mind games. "What do you require, Hokage-sama?" he asked once more.
Hiruzen sighed as he nursed his chin on his fingers. "Would you like to join your age groups class as a shinobi? Due to Orochimaru's teaching you are more than ready to their class and be well ahead of everyone, the clan heirs included," Hiruzen told the blonde finally. Naruto didn't respond so the Sarutobi decided he would up the blonde's gain by a few margins. "Or would you like to be promoted to Chuunin right here and now? If nurtured properly, by your twentieth birthday you would be one of the most powerful ninjas Konoha has ever produced at a young age. I would personally assign trainers to you in hopes to have you brought up properly," the Sandaime paused for a moment.
"Merely self tutoring yourself could lead to many errors that would be detrimental in the field. So, what do you choose, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked as he leaned back in his chair. If the blonde chose either it would benefit the village greatly. They would have a powerful up and coming ninja to help bring forth the next generation. Meanwhile the ANBU in the room were shocked. The kage before them had never offered something to a citizen who had never joined the academy.
Naruto looked at the Kage before he sighed himself. "I have self-tutored myself to get this far. Orochimaru saw only the scientific aspects of my study and lightly trained me in other areas. What I have now is pinnacle of what I can achieve," Naruto told the Kage before Hiruzen grinned slightly.
"Does that mean-," Hiruzen was cut off by the blonde raising a hand to stop him.
"I was going to say that this is the pinnacle of what I can achieve here, in this village, fighting monsters in only the surrounding area," Naruto told the Kage of which now sat wide-eyed. "I accept neither of your propositions, Hokage-sama. With all due respect, you shouldn't waste resources on someone who doesn't need it," Naruto told the Kage who looked surprised. "I have barely trained in the Shinobi arts and I can take on some of your lower-tiered jonins from my analyses. And I am only halfway done with my other type of training," Naruto told the Kage of which now sat wide-eyed.
Naruto turned on heel and began to walk to the door.
"Hokage-sama," Naruto spoke as he opened the door to the office. "I will not be located in this village by tomorrow. You may hear of me within the next few years, and you may make me the same offer to join your Shinobi ranks. But my answer will always be no. I am not a Shinobi, I am not an assassin, a Ninjutsu expert, a Genjutsu specialist, or a Taijutsu master. I am, and always will be a Witcher. We may both be mercenaries but that's all we'll have in common," a pause," Have a good night, Hokage-sama."
And with that, Naruto had left the Hokage to his body guards. If Hiruzen had not have been tempered with patience throughout his years he would have thrown a literal temper tantrum.
That was before his eyes widened and he smiled somewhat.
He truly is you and Kushina combined, Minato. You'd be proud, the Sarutobi clan head thought as he turned around to look out over the village once more.
Second later he paled.
I sure hope Kushina doesn't find out about this, he thought with horror.
….
Present time…
Naruto had just finished preparing dinner for both Yugito and himself before he began to sit the food down on the table. It was a small feast if another person were to look at it. It was comprised of shrimp, a few medium sized bowls of ramen as it contained a large amount of calories and didn't take a large amount of time to consume, some fresh rabbit he had bought at the store and stir-fried, some fish for both Yugito and himself, and some cooked beef. It was protein heavy and contained a large amount of carbs, just how Naruto liked it.
"Yugito, dinner is ready!" Naruto announced in his deep as ever voice.
"Alright!" the dirty blonde Jinchuriki said as she came down from the upstairs.
Moments later, Naruto heard a knock on the door.
The Witcher groaned lightly. He had spent this much time cooking and now he had to wait to eat.
The white-haired male made his way to the doorway before he opened the door to see three individuals, one male, the other two female, standing in the doorway.
The male was dark-skinned and had black eyes and light-blonde, almost white hair. He had a katana on his back and was in the traditional grey of Kumo's uniforms. Naruto also noticed that he had a Kumo headband on his forehead.
One of the other females had red hair and golden eyes as well as dark skin. She had a lithe figure and was around five foot five in height. She wore a grey shirt with torn off sleeves and white almost vest-like attire over that which was signature to most Kumo nin. She also had a katana on her back and her headband was like a bandana and was situated on her forehead.
The last female was blonde haired and blue eyed and unlike the other two had fair skin. She wore a grey shirt with a deep v that showed off her impressive cleavage though it was covered with fishnet. Looking down she wore a black skirt that reached her upper mid-thigh. Unlike the other two she wore wrist guards and had a ninjato on her lower back.
For age, Naruto would have guessed they were about his age though he looked like an old man sometimes.
Naruto looked at them and put an arm on the frame and raised an eyebrow.
The blonde-haired girl looked away with a dark blush evident on her face while the red-haired girl did the same. The white haired male gulped as he looked at how intimidating the male in the doorway looked. Perhaps their sensei had given them the wrong address and now this man would kill them because he was annoyed-!
Omoi gulped. "A-Ah, yes, you see we're-," he was cut off by a prompt door closing in his face, "looking for our sensei?"
Naruto grunted in annoyance as he made his way back to the dinner table which was parallel to the living room so that he could watch whatever was on while eating.
Yugito was already at the table and lightly eating her fish as Naruto sat down.
"Who was that?" she asked him as he broke apart a pair of chopsticks, the pieces of wood breaking apart from the amount of pressure his frustrated form exerting.
Naruto sighed as he got a steel fork from beside his plate before he picked up a piece of beef and scooted over a bowl of ramen. "Three genin selling something I believe. One had white hair, the others ones blonde and red," he said without a care as he began to eat.
Yugito sighed as she got up. Naruto was still eating and idly watching the television as she left. Moments later he heard shuffling in the den before Naruto turned to see the three Kumo genin, one with an angry face, another with an apathetic face, the other looked like he was about to be in tears.
Naruto raised a brow as he continued to eat. Yugito huffed while he shrugged.
"I'm not apologizing."
….
REVIEW!
Here's an early Christmas present for you. And very sorry for the wait, didn't intend for it.
Incarnate and Deal With It are next on my list.
But thanks for reading and whatnot. I made it a bit longer than usual but again, sorry for the wait.
REVIEW and peace!
:D